Dalhart awarded state water loan

Posted: Thursday, February 21, 2002

KAY LEDBETTERkledbetter@amarillonet.com

DALHART - After a year of planning upgrades on the city wastewater treatment plant, Dalhart will be able to start funding the project with the help of a $5.87 million Texas Water Development Board loan.

The Texas Water Development Board announced the loan approval to the city of Dalhart on Wednesday.

The wastewater treatment plant improvements will be financed utilizing the pre-design funding option of the TWDB's Clear Water State Revolving Fund, according to a TWDB news release.

Mark Hanbury, Dalhart's director of public works, said the city will get the loan up front and put it in an escrow account, spending it as costs are incurred.

"We've hired the engineering firm of Freese and Nichols Inc. out of Fort Worth. They have prepared the design report for the construction of our plant," he said.

"The plant is under capacity."

Mark Hansbury

Hanbury said the engineering firm is working on a final set of drawings. The project will be ready for bids in July, with construction to start in September.

"The plant we have was mostly constructed in the early 1970s, and the primary reason for us doing this is the plant is under capacity," he said.

The wastewater treatment plant will be expanded from 1 million permitted gallons per day (mgd) to 1.5 mgd. The improvements will enhance the quality of the treated effluent and improve operations and reliability of the wastewater system, Hanbury said.

Hanbury said the state will issue a bond on the funds, with a low interest, and it will be paid back over a 20-year period with water and wastewater revenues.

With an estimated population of 7,230, Dalhart provides service to 3,462 water and 3,133 sewer connections. The population does not include the 1,500-bed Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Dalhart prison unit, which is served by the wastewater plant, Hanbury said.